Jason Victor Serinus

dCS Rossini Apex D/A processor

Jason Victor Serinus Sep 21, 2022

The text, from Gary Bruestle, a speaker-positioning wizard at Definitive Audio in Seattle, left my mouth watering: "Have you heard the Apex version of a Rossini or Vivaldi yet? It's stunningly good. Addictive, even. ... I usually have a hard time relaxing and listening to music in the showroom, but the Rossini Apex DAC had me in its thrall for a few hours yesterday."

Music and Recording Reviews

September 2022 Classical Record Reviews

Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta Sep 09, 2022

Prism IV: Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Mahler: Symphony No.4, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė Ex Tenebris Lux and Consolations: Music by Bach, Chopin, Dushkin, Handel, Kreisler, Liszt, Massenet, and others.

Audacious Audio Tube Power Amp Reviews

Octave Jubilee Mono SE monoblock power amplifier

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 26, 2022

When I was a young man, blind dates were always laced with anxiety. (Proms were even worse. Once, when I arrived in a rented tux and my father's prized dress gloves, my date's father ordered me to take out the trash.)

Music and Recording Reviews

August 2022 Classical Record Reviews

Kurt Gottschalk, Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta Aug 12, 2022

Shiva Feshareki, Daphne Oram: Turning World, Mari Samuelsen: Lys, Maurice Ravel: Concertos Pour Piano, Mélodies, Shostakovich: Symphony No.11 and Various Artists: Creation.

PAF 2022

Rhapsody Out West: Alsyvox Botticelli, Pilium, Taiko, Esoteric, and Vyda

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 05, 2022

One more straggling post from the Pacific Audiofest: As indicative of the New York / West Coast melting pot, internationalism was the bottom line in a system assembled by Bob Vineyard, proprietor of Rhapsody Out West's Portland, Oregon showroom.

PAF 2022

A Personal PAF Postscript

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 05, 2022

So, just how hot was it? Residents of Florida, Texas, and other southern states may laugh, but the greater Seattle Area is ill-equipped to cope with temperatures that topped out at 96°. Nor could the poor Doubletree Hilton at SEATAC's air conditioning keep upper-floor hallways cool; those with glass-faced enclosures facing the sun reached fry-me-an-egg levels. At some hours of the day, the temperature in the elevator was ridiculous.

PAF 2022

The Pacific Audio Fest's Inaugural Outing

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 05, 2022

How does anyone adequately and fairly evaluate a first-time audio show in a new location? Especially when it's handicapped by unusually hot, mid-90º weather and yet another COVID surge that was accompanied by admonishments to mask up indoors?

First, I rejoice that the show brought together so many old friends in such a convivial manner. A case in point: Marjorie Baumert, head of the former Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest (left above), headed west from Denver to support show organizers Gary Gill (right above) and Lou Hinkley (hard at work elsewhere) as volunteer coordinator. With such heart helping to guide the operation, the feeling in rooms and hallways was as positive as it gets.

PAF 2022

High End By Oz: Thrax Spartacus 300B amplification, Børresen 05 loudspeakers, and much more

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 05, 2022

As at T.H.E. Show in Long Beach, I was smitten by the round, colorful, and illumined sound of Thrax Spartacus 300B monoblocks ($97,500/pair). Seduced, won over, serenaded into submission. And then some.

PAF 2022

ModWright Debuts its Analog Bridge

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 05, 2022

If any company's sonic signature has changed from the first time I encountered it, it's Dan Wright's ModWright. While Dan still does tube modifications to products from other companieshis Cambridge CXN V2 Tube Modification ($1500/mod only) to the Cambridge DAC was part of the show systemthe KWH225i class-AB Hybrid Integrated ($9750), PH9.0X Tube Phono Stage ($4750), and world debut Analog Bridge (maybe $2900/TBD) are 100% ModWright.

PAF 2022

Parasound amplification with the Innuos Zenith, Marantz Ruby, Dr. Feickert Woodpecker Deluxe, and KEF Blade Meta speakers

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 05, 2022

Of the two systems in Parasound's large room, time only allowed a listen to the big one. Given that room's entire front wall was composed of outward-facing glass, Parasound's Phil Jackson had no choice but to opt for heavy draping that, as with all heavy draping, nipped depth in the bud.

I initially typed "death" rather than depth. Whatever that may say about my own internal preoccupations, it does not reflect on the core of the system's sound, which was gratifying alive without being hot or splashy.